Creative Infill

Posted by Rebecca Eggleston on July 28, 2009

This article by Julia Levitt highlights an emerging trend with exciting potential for our cities – the creative infill, re-use and sharing of under-used spaces.

Using the example of the restaurant Everest Momo Shack that shares space with a burrito kitchen, Levitt challenges us to think about how we can better create “meaning, activity and experience where there would have been emptiness, waste or worse” by using urban space to its fullest.

“By day, it's a burrito joint; four nights each week, it's the Momo Shack.

Two businesses, each with unique menu and ambience, share one restaurant. My question: why don't relationships like this form more often?

The next time you're waiting at an intersection, look around and imagine how much of the built (and furnished) environment stands empty and unused at any given time. Cafés in the financial district are closed at dinnertime; restaurants that specialize in dinner fare are silent until mid-afternoon; parking lots that fill during the workweek are largely vacant after 6pm and often on weekends.

Now imagine putting those darkened rooms, kitchens, galleries, cafés, outdoor spaces and more to use. What would you fill them with?”

What creative infill could help your city be more vibrant?